Knowing God in the Tough Times
The books of Jonah and Ruth tell us a lot about God and point us to Jesus
Earlier today, I asked my X (formerly Twitter) followers to name the books of the Old Testament that have had the greatest impact on their lives. The answers given were far more diverse than I imagined they would be!
One person said that the Old Testament book that most impacted them was Jonah and revealed that they read it once a week. I love Jonah, but I had to ask this person why it warranted reading every week. The person gave seven reasons, then said, “I could talk about it all day. I sometime[s] do.”
Jonah is a powerful book! There’s another short Old Testament book that packs a similar wallop, I think, and addresses similar themes.
Two years ago, I did a series of Lenten devotional sermons on Jonah and Ruth, two books that run only four chapters each, but can give us life from God.
Links to all five installments can be found below. I hope you find them helpful.
Hearing the Word of God Does Strange Things to Us (Ruth and Jonah, Part 1) (Ruth 1)
The Redeemer of Outsiders Foreshadowed (Ruth and Jonah, Part 2) (Ruth 3-4)
God is Faithful Even When We’re Not (Ruth and Jonah, Part 3) (Jonah 1:1-17)
The Sign of Jonah (Ruth and Jonah, Part 4) (Jonah 2-3)
The God Who Wants Us (Ruth and Jonah, Part 5) (Jonah 4)